Fever Tree

A few days ago, David brought this stick home. It had travelled to Kinshasa via MAF plane from an interior village and was accidentally left at the hangar. The passenger who misplaced it is a friend and he had called David and asked him to look for the stick. He had brought it from the village for someone else and they really wanted it.

It's really not much to look at. Why would they want that stick so badly? Why would a stick be so important (unless you are a dog)?

Cinchona pubescens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This isn't an ordinary stick. It was cut from a "fever tree," also called "cinchona," "quina," and "Jesuit bark." The bark of this tree contains quinine, and is chewed or steeped into a tea to treat malaria. I have sampled a tiny, tiny piece of fever tree bark. It was very bitter and the taste lingered for a long time after I spit it out, even though I didn't even chew it. It amazes me that anyone ever even discovered that something that nasty could cure malaria, since that would require tasting it more than once. Quinine is also used to treat malaria worldwide in other forms, like pills. That ugly piece of tree branch has the potential to save lives.

Malaria is a serious threat in DRC. It is one of the leading causes of death here. Over 400 children die in Congo every day, and nearly half of these deaths are caused by malaria (World Health Organization). Please pray for those who are working on better preventions like vaccines, for those who work in the health care sector, and for the people of DRC. 

A Small Reflection to Mark the Day

Arrived in Congo five years ago today. After our crazy experience in the airport, we rode in a van with Garth Pederson and Brian Writebol to our new home. It was dark and there were little fires everywhere lining both sides of the road because there was no power. The fires gave light, drove away mosquitos, and cast an eery glow on the myriad of half-finished or half-destroyed buildings, roadside kiosks, piles of garbage and people. Combined with our fatigue from 36 hours of travel it all seemed very apocalyptic and we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into and how in the world one family could make even a drop of difference in a place like this. We can't but God can, and He does. Thankful we get to be part of it!

Cool Beans - Five Years in DR Congo!

Kinshasa is a large city with some serious traffic!

In the evening on October 11, 2010, we arrived in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo to begin our assignment here. Five years ago! A lot has happened in just five years, both in Congo and in our family.

When we joined MAF, in July of 2008, our family looked like this. We spent two years raising ministry support and attending language school and other training.

We arrived in Congo looking like this.   After our Canadian winter our Florida tans were long gone. And of course the kids were bigger.

We have experienced one election season in this country and face another in the near future. We've learned to be flexible about things like electricity, water (none today), sanitation, and sleep. We have felt the joy of making new friends and the pain of saying goodbye when they left. We've seen our two oldest graduate and return to the states to further their educations, and felt the pride of their accomplishments mingled with the sorrow of not being able to be there for them to help them along. We've had the pride and happiness of seeing our son get married and getting a new daughter. We have lived the guilt and grief of loved ones dying while we were separated from them by thousands of miles, including my mom, my grandmother, my uncle, my mom's cousin, a great uncle, one of David's cousins, and a dear friend. 

We've also seen God perform miracles and met people whose lives have been transformed by Him. We've had opportunities to be involved in God's work here and meet incredible people He has placed here for such a time as this. We've prayed and worshipped with people from all over the world and been places we never imagined we would see. We've heard the gospel preached in a minimum of four languages here and observed that in each language, amen is still amen! We've worked harder and prayed more than we ever had before. We've faced health issues, including a surgery for David and one also for me. We've had our faith challenged, we've been brought low, and God has lifted us up and strengthened us. 

We are so thankful that God brought us here! We look forward to continuing to serve here as long as God in his generosity and wisdom keeps us here! God has given us a ministry team of incredible, faithful friends that makes it possible for us to be here by praying for us and financially supporting our ministry with MAF.

Now, for a little fun to mark our celebration. The Mitendi Center has been growing food for itself for some time now. They have also acquired a couple new residents:

The female arrived first. She was purchased with the idea to breed her and use the additional pigs as a source of income for feeding and upkeep as well as for food.

Breeding animals is generally much easier to accomplish when you have one of each gender, so a month or so later the male was acquired. They have a bit of growing up to do before they are ready to breed, but the girls at the Mitendi Center are learning to prepare the right kind of food for them, to care for them, and to develop a mindset of investing in their own future.

Last time I looked in on the piggies, I captured this with my phone. I thought it might be fun to ask people to come up with captions for my photo. So, please do comment below! 

Filling in and Chilling With the Girls

Photo courtesy of Mark and Kelly Hewes

Yesterday I went to the Bandal center to work with the ladies. Nothing unusual about that, except that I went without Jill. Nothing especially unusual about that either, except that instead of going to just pop in and say hello or to give out birthday treats, I was going there to get some work done. I am accustomed to having Jill around to tell me what she needs done, to help with any language barriers, and to organize our time. Jill is on a trip though, and things needed doing, so I put on my big girl britches and took myself to the center to see what I could do.

I checked on the progress of ongoing projects - whether they were completed, what problems they may have been having getting them completed, what items needed to be paid for and/or delivered, etc. They were just putting finishing touches on one project as I walked in, so after leaving the center I got to make a delivery to a happy customer.

I also enjoyed having a chance to ask how the ladies themselves were doing, to visit with them for a while, and to meet some new students from the Mitendi Center who have now joined us at Bandal. They were so much more shy and timid than the ladies I have been working with over the past year or so. They didn't even want to say their names loud enough for me to hear, so Elie had to repeat each one. It will be fun to watch them grow in their confidence and abilities, and I am praying that the more experienced ladies will take them under their wings and give them lots of help and moral support. Mama Jackie and Mama Elie will nurture them and be there to give them spiritual guidance as well as professional instruction.

photo courtesy of Mark and Kelly Hewes